Chains of Devotion
by Azuranaito
Summary: For over 25 years, he searched. He planned. He sung and he prayed. He shouted and cried. For over twenty years he sought to resurrect the Dark Lord. He finally did it. But was it all in vain? Nightmares have plagued Hyness for many years, costing him his sanity, all just a cost to pay for the rebirth of Void Termina. But when he is given a chance of redemption, will he take it?


Chains of Devotion

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing from Kirby, I own the OCs. All rights go to Nintendo.**

Chapter 1: Cultist's Folly

 _Blackness. It was all he could see. It was all that he knew. For over a decade, he searched. He planned. He sung and he prayed. He shouted and cried. For over twenty years he sought to resurrect the Dark Lord. He finally did it._

 _But now, he could not see. He couldn't even see the fruits of the deadly labor that he pursued to seek. Everything was black. Obscured. Was he… dead? Everything was warm, in fact, it was sweltering, especially in his robe._

 _Hyness drifted about, lazily, in the blackness of the void of his mind. He felt weary, as if he hadn't slept in ages. And he had not. Sleep was almost foreign to him as of late. He could barely even shut his eyes and soon be tormented by recurring visions that always shook his being to no end. They would always depict the same gruesome details, always have his loved ones dying in the end, with him helpless to do anything about it. They always hurt him, always made him paralyzed with fear, always made him wish he could do something to make the nightmares end._

 _But there was nothing he could do. Not that he knew of. He wasn't even sure what was real and what wasn't anymore. There was always a voice. A sole voice that told him to do what must be done. And it always spoke when his mind was going away, when his body lacked rest. Would it speak now?_

 _Hyness's chameleon-like eyes darted around, surveying the blackness. It hurt for him to move, even his eyes soon began to tire. His body ached, he felt hundreds of years older than what he was, and he couldn't feel his hands or the lower half of his body. He felt stiff, stuck in the paralysis of his weary vessel, brought on by his devotion._

" _You finally did it. You finally succeeded." He heard a single voice say. It was the_ _voice. It was female, had a very soothing lilt to its tone, with a strange enthralling echo to every word it uttered. Hyness always pinned the voice as the voice of the Dark Lord,despite the traditional depiction of the deity being male. Perhaps it was simply madness that made him interpret the voice in such a way, or perhaps it was just a manifestation of a relic in his possession, using a voice not unlike his own mother's to make him feel at ease._

" _You cannot even see the fruit of your devotion, however. Such a pity."_

 _Hyness groaned, the odd amount of heat in this strange void making him feel even sleepier than he was before. His eyes were half open, lethargy taking its toll on the mage. His body burned for the need to rest, even if there was the threat of the dreaded night terrors. His eyes were shutting, sleep about to take the vessel._

" _He is losing. And you cannot even see it."_

 _Hyness opened his eyes, staring into the endless blackness. Did she just say the Dark Lord was…_ _ **losing**_ _? Such a thing was incomprehensible… impossible. Right?_

" _He… he cannot lose. He is Void Termina. Our Dark Lord. He is immortal." Hyness proclaimed, the tiredness of his voice dulling down the disbelief of the words the voice that called itself the Dark Lord uttered to him. His eyes darted around, surveying the darkness once again. Where was the voice coming from?_

" _He is losing the battle. He is losing to a child, a damned child. Yet you cannot see it. You drift about in this… limbo. You cannot see. You fail to see. The Dark Lord is flawed. You_ _are flawed. You are weak, boy. Flawed, like the pathetic little mortal you are. You failed to control Void Termina. Failed to gather all the Hearts, so you forced yourself and the sisters to go into the Jamba Heart and bring him back. Look at what you've done."_

 _The voice began laughing a cruel, callous laughter that barely fazed Hyness in the weary state he was in. His eyes were half open, barely even listening to the noise anymore. All he wished was for him to finally rest. Would it finally be peaceful? Would he finally have the sacred sleep that he so dearly coveted? Perhaps he could finally go back to his right mind, because right now, he was unsure what to think, or what had even happened. His mind felt so dulled, he was barely able to even recall his own name._

" _Hyness, why do you not respond? Do you not understand what is happening? Wake up. Wake up!"_

" _I understand… mm… I would understand what was going on better if I wasn't so weary. So… tired. This damned heat isn't making me feel any better either. Mmh… if you are so sure of what is happening, answer me this: wh-where… am I?"_

" _You… you do not know?"_

" _I do not remember. My memory is so muddled, I can barely remember my name, my family, and where I was born."_

" _You are inside Void Termina. He was using your power, feeding off of you. You're hanging upside down in the core. That may explain why you're feeling rather warm."_

 _Hyness blinked, trying to bring some vitality back to his eyes, but it failed to be done. He did not care about what the voice was saying, he was too lethargic to care; he almost felt dead. Almost._

 _Then, all of a sudden, he started falling. Falling into the blackened abyss. It stopped, only for a second, then he felt himself being hurled back around in the void much like a rag doll, like how he hurled the mage sisters in his crazed state fighting the strange pink creature. Was that creature the "child" the voice was referring to? How could that squishy pink ball defeat Void Termina?_

 _Hyness soon closed his eyes. Sleep finally came. Silence was what ruled his domain now._

 _That was, until he could see._

 _He opened his eyes, his vision somewhat blurred and spotty. But he could faintly see a star with four passengers on it. He could make out a blue Puffal, a Vividria, and a Jammerjab. The pink puffball was piloting the star. A strange bird was flying in the air. Oh, wait._

 _That was another form of Void Termina. But why would it need to use another form if it had the capability of squishing the pink puff like an insect? Was the voice telling the truth? Was this… pink puffy child actually winning? How? What was this child using that was actually able to damage Void Termina?_

 _His vision blurred until all he could see were the colors of the sky, and that soon faded into nothing but the darkness of the void._

" _You finally see." The voice said to him condescendingly, as if he were to blame for the deity's struggle in the battle._

" _I don't understand. What did I do wrong? He was supposed to be invincible, but could throwing myself and the sisters give him vulnerability? We're as mortal as that pink gumdrop that's somehow defeating him!"_

" _You introduced vulnerability to him when you pledged yourself to his resurrection. Your body, the bodies of your devoted generals, your imperfect, flawed, mortal vessels. They are what is killing your Dark Lord. That boy is only exploiting the weaknesses."_

 _Hyness couldn't believe his ears. After everything he did, all those years of research and planning. The rituals that were done. All of that time and energy was all for nothing. He felt angry, and was ready to release whatever energy was left in his body in a last resort attack._

 _But there was one part of him, the part of his subconscious that still retained sanity, that just begged for him to stop. Everything that he was doing, the devotion, it was all just a cultist's folly. Foolishness on his end that needed to cease permanently. He devoted himself to Void Termina to the point he had no idea what else he should do with the rest of his life. He was a Halcandran, and they lived almost as long as Puffals. Would it be healthy to keep worshipping Void Termina for that long? It would ultimately end for the worst should he continue for a little longer._

 _He had to stop. He needed to let his folly go. But he had no idea what to do or where to start. Hyness felt uneasy, uncertain, and afraid. Very afraid. He feared that the outcome of Void Termina's battle with the puffy pink child would ultimately lead to the Dark Lord's defeat. He feared that the mages and he would captured and separated, or worse, executed._

 _There was nothing else he could do. Nothing else that could be done in the state he was in. All he could hope for is that the Dark Lord prevails in the battle, that his folly and false hope will fall in his favor. It was all that Hyness could do. He drifted in the void of his mind, sore, swelteringly warm, and tired. So very tired…_

" _In spite of all, cold as ice… in spite of all, hard as stone. In spite of all, it would seem… in spite of all, we are but a dream…" He muttered a piece of the final verse of the Song of Supplication, the song of prayer for the Dark Lord. It seemed he was giving a final prayer in hopes that Void Termina will be victorious. With that hope strongly in mind, Hyness continued drifting in the blackness._

(0.0) (0.0) (^u^) (^u^) (0u0) (0u0)

A single silver ship was flying through the blackness of space. It flew with purpose, seeking to get to its destination in a hurry. The ship was shaped like a four pointed star, with the top point being the longest of the four. This ship was appropriately called "Shooting Star" for the shape of the craft and its remarkable speed.

The pilot of the craft focused intently on their surroundings. Space was riddled with lots of dangers: only a fool would believe that just because no normal creature can survive in space doesn't mean it is without danger.

The pilot was a female Puffal who wore a full set of steel armor with a special faceplate that opened and closed when needed. Their visor was in the shape of a cross, and a flame pattern was emblazoned on the faceplate. They also wore a navy blue Dimensional Cape with a pink collar. A sword rest at their left side.

Skyla Knight did not know what to expect at all when she followed the path her younger brother took when Meta Knight traveled with Kirby. All she remembered him telling her was to not draw attention to herself and to find as much as she could. Fortunately, Sword and Blade were piloting the Halberd with a small crew of their own, so they were able to find a _lot_ of things in the Jambandra Base. Capturing the four main members of the Jamba cult was just a blur in and of itself to her, it happened so quick.

They sat in silence. The atmosphere was so dense and heavy in the ship that even a diamond honed blade wouldn't be able to cut through it. Flamberge was glaring darkly at their pilot, Francisca was curled up on the floor, as if she were afraid, and Zan Partizanne was keeping a close eye on Hyness, who was still unconscious from diving into the Jamba Heart to revive Void Termina.

"You seem concerned." Skyla spoke, finally breaking the silence of the ship. None of the sisters knew which one of them she was talking to and they stared at each other before Francisca spoke.

"Of course we're concerned. We don't know where you'll be taking us. Are we to be executed?" She asked in a meek and fearful tone of voice.

"No. At least, not unless it's decided to be so. We have to put you three on trial for what you've done." Skyla explained. She tapped a few buttons on the dashboard of the ship, turned around, then walked toward the four. Flamberge was still glaring darkly at Skyla.

"Whatever you plan to do to us, forget it. I'm not gonna let you lay a finger on me, my lord, or my sisters. Got it?"

Skyla was unfazed by Flamberge's hostility. In fact, she expected a reaction like this, the Blazing General lived up to the personality she set for herself. She ignored the fiery young woman, glancing at Zan Partizanne, who hadn't looked up at her at all since she walked toward them.

She was focused on Hyness. Her lord was still unconscious, and it almost seemed he wasn't doing so well physically. A cold sweat was pooled on his forehead, his breathing was ragged, and it seemed that he looked… discomforted. Skyla took off her right glove and knelt down to take a closer look at Hyness, but Flamberge was quick to grab the female Puffal's paw.

"What did I just tell you?!"

"It's not polite to raise your voice at your elders, young lady."

"Don't 'young lady' me! Keep away from Lord Hyness!"

"How about you keep back before I run my sword through your chest? I don't mean Hyness any harm! Hear me out, I'm just going to examine him to see if he's ill. Now let go of my paw."

Flamberge growled but reluctantly let go. She didn't need to get into another fight, seeing as she would most likely lose again. Her energy was so sapped from not only fighting that pink puffball but being used as a power source to summon Void Termina. But she turned out alright, as far as she could tell. Same went for her sisters, though it seemed Zan had the most drained from her out of the three of them.

Skyla looked at the unconscious mage. Most would have cringed at his true appearance, but she did not care, she had seen uglier things in her lifetime. She placed her ungloved paw on his neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but it was a bit too rapid for her liking. She felt his forehead and his face. The very cold sweat on his forehead contrasted greatly with how hot he felt. Skyla put her glove back on and grabbed a first aid box.

"Is he alright? Why do you have that?" Zan Partizanne asked, worry _very_ evident in her voice. Skyla didn't answer her question as she opened the first aid kit and handed the yellow haired mage a thermometer. It was designed to go in the ear, so Skyla didn't have to hold up Hyness's nose to get the thermometer in his mouth. It made things more discreet that way.

"Could you do me a favor and take his temperature? I have a few questions of my own for your leader, and I don't wish for him to be too sick to answer me."

"Yes ma'am, but what questions do you mean? Standard interrogation?"

"Mm, more like why someone like him would try and resurrect a deity of destruction. Then again, I guess it is to be expected considering the family he comes from. They don't seem to want to stay away from forbidden knowledge and magic."

"What do you mean 'family'? What the hell are you talking about?" Flamberge asked.

"Wait, you don't know…?" Skyla asked, genuinely confused and surprised at the fire mage's question. Surely he told _one_ of them. Francisca looked just as confused as Flamberge, but when Skyla turned to face Zan, she turned away. Flamberge's glare soon directed itself to her older sister, who was still trying to take their lord's temperature.

"What the hell is this blue creampuff babbling about, Zan? What does she mean by 'family'?"

Zan Partizanne didn't answer. She didn't know how to tell them. She knew they would eventually find out, but even she was surprised by the fact that the secret had been held for so long. But at the same time, she wasn't extremely surprised, as Francisca and Flamberge learned what Hyness really looked like just a couple hours ago, and that was a secret that has endured since as long as they've known each other: 27 years.

"Damn it all, Zan, answer me! I already know what he looks like now, what else are you hiding?!"

Still no answer. At this rate, Flamberge was ready to melt the whole ship because of her sister's lack of honesty. However, she didn't want to die today or cause the deaths of Zan or Francisca. This lack of answers was starting to really make her agitated and their pilot's high and mighty know-it-all attitude wasn't helping her mood either.

"Zan, please, just tell us what this woman is talking about. I don't want Flamberge inadvertently killing us over an unanswered question." Francisca pleaded. She didn't care about what Skyla was saying about 'family', but she was curious as to what she meant. Hyness kept a lot of secrets from Flamberge and her for good reasons. Maybe he will explain when he wakes up. _If_ he wakes up.

Zan Partizanne sighed and faced her sisters again, shame lining her visage at the fact that she had to reveal another secret she promised her lord she would keep.

 _Maybe this won't surprise them too bad…_

"Hyness is a prince. That is what this woman means by 'family', Flamberge. Hyness is a prince from Halcandra. His grandfather is king of the whole planet. And he's the second in line to inherit the throne should his grandfather die." Zan explained, expecting an angry outburst from her fiery younger sister any second. It never came, however.

Flamberge stared at Zan Partizanne in disbelief at her words. Francisca would have looked more surprised if she wasn't so worried about what would happen when they arrive at their destination. Her cool and composed demeanor was very well and good when she was fighting someone, it made her a little more difficult to defeat than Flamberge, but suspense was never something she was a fan of. Seeing as her life was possibly on the line, she had good reason to feel as nervous as she was.

The silence in the room was broken by a beeping noise coming from the thermometer. Zan Partizanne took the device out of her lord's ear and handed it to Skyla. The navy blue skinned Puffal squinted her glowering sky blue eyes at the number displayed on the thermometer, huffing a small sigh.

"103.3 degrees. Halcandrans have a normal body temperature naturally a couple degrees lower than any other race… you, young lady with the blue hair, er, Francisca, right? There's an ice pack in that cooler you're sitting in front of, could you hand that to me so I can get your lord's body temperature down?" Skyla asked, pointing toward the cooler. Francisca nodded and got the ice pack and handed it to their pilot.

"Why try to keep him healthy if we're to be killed later?" Flamberge asked rather harshly. Skyla said nothing and continued pressing the ice pack against Hyness's forehead. His breathing was shallow, each breath he took shaking as if he were shuddering from either the cold or something else entirely.

"Hey you fancy talking little bitch, I'm tired of you ignoring me! Answer my question, goddammit! What is the point of you trying to heal him if we're to die anyway?!"

"Shut up, you idiot! I already told you why I want him healthy! And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not the one in charge of deciding your fates! As far as I'm concerned, either my younger brother is going to decide that or the King of Dreamland. We won't execute you unless that is decided and even still we would have to contact your lord's grandfather. We're giving you four a trial, and that is that."

"What 'trial' is there to give?" Flamberge asked. Her tone of voice was softer, almost sounding like she was sad or fearful.

"I don't even ask that out of rudeness, but what is the point? Hyness may be a prince, but is there even a sentence in jail for summoning a god of destruction? The ritual went wrong, the Dark Hearts were scattered all across the Gamble Galaxy, possessing anyone who came into contact with them. Some of the people possessed probably got killed before the heart was forced from their body, it just takes that deep a grip on those poor fools… don't fake the niceties. For all I know your little bro was probably possessed, you have every right to be pissed off at us."

Skyla was surprised at the Flamberge's words. Especially since the fiery young woman seemed rather eager to attack her just a few minutes ago. In the end, it seemed she was just as fearful as her younger sister, fearful of the fate awaiting them once they arrive on Popstar. Skyla tried to make conversation to hopefully help ease them so they wouldn't be too fearful, because even she was unsure of what her brother or King Dedede had in store for them. She was also well aware Meta Knight was possessed by the Dark Heart, he told her what happened himself. At first, she was furious about what happened and originally wished to hunt down whoever was responsible for unleashing the strange purple hearts.

However, when she found out Hyness was responsible for everything she was shocked and confused… though those two words couldn't _begin_ to express what she really felt. She remembered seeing his father and grandfather when she used to work on Halcandra about five hundred years ago. She enjoyed working with King Nicola and learned much of what she knew of spaceship engineering from him, and remembered working with Hyness's mother in several chapels, watching her work healing miracles.

To see the Halcandran King's grandson lying unconscious on her ship, knowing he was the cause of the resurrection of that Eldritch Abomination was unthinkable. Hyness had good parents and a good grandfather, but she could only hope whatever motivated him to resurrect Void Termina wasn't something for evil intent or something to do with the insanity that fell upon many of his ancestors.

Skyla turned to face the Blazing General and bowed as respectfully as she could muster, which wasn't the easiest feat considering she still had her armor on and the shape of her spherical body didn't help either.

"I am not faking my kindness. I do not hold a grudge with any of you three. I would like to believe there is always a civility between soldiers no matter what alignment they are with in battle. All I'm doing is just trying to be hospitable."

"We aren't exactly soldiers." Zan Partizanne said, speaking for the first time in more than twenty minutes. "Our titles may be 'general', but we're cultists that answer to Lord Hyness. All we were doing was just following the orders given to us by Hyness. And whatever fate is given to him, whatever punishment he has to endure, I'll follow him to Hell and back, even beyond my own demise if I must. Maybe then he will know I am not devoted to Void Termina, but to him and him alone…" Zan trailed off, her voice growing softer at the last sentence. She averted her gaze away from the unconscious body of her lord, a small flush of red appearing on her face. One of Skyla's silent questions was answered based upon the mannerisms Zan did in that moment.

 _Ah, so the girl is_ _in love with him. Now I see why she appears so worried, she isn't concerned over her life, but rather she's worried about Hyness. Love is such a powerful emotion, if a bit of a foolish one._

There was a beeping noise coming from the console of the ship, and Skyla walked back to her controls. A video transmission was coming in from the Halberd. She turned the monitor on and saw Blade Knight on the screen.

"Blade. Has Meta said anything to you about what we're going to do?"

"Lord Meta Knight and King Dedede told me to tell you to take the prisoners to the Northern Isles. They're already on their way there on the Star Allies Sparkler. How far from Popstar are you? We might arrive a little bit late."

"My ship's just 24 light years from Popstar now. I can go ahead and get back in just a few minutes but only if I jump into hyperspace. Might be a bit risky considering the speed of my ship, I don't have the prisoners strapped down and Hyness is still unconscious."

"Still? I figured he would be awake by now."

"He has the most magic power among the four of them, my best bet is Void Termina sapped most of his energy in order to gain the material form that protected its core. Blade, make sure you and the others get back safely, I'm going to end transmission so I can jump into hyperspace."

"Is the Shooting Star's hull strong enough to survive that at such a short distance?"

"I'm sure, trust me." She saluted the red haired knave before ending the video transmission. "Find somewhere safe to strap yourselves down. We're going to do a hyperspace jump." Skyla was looking directly at Zan when she said that command, though all three of the mage sisters understood what she was asking them to do. Their base was able to do hyperspace jumps, and while they had much more space on the Jambandra Base, the Shooting Star was much smaller. They needed to strap down to avoid getting seriously hurt, especially with the inevitable whiplash once they were out of hyperspace.

Flamberge and Francisca were to first to strap down, but Zan Partizanne was struggling to secure Hyness's unconscious body because his head kept drooping forward, she didn't want him to choke thanks to the straps. She finally managed to strap her own self down before Skyla set the ship into hyperspace. At that next moment, they could only feel their bodies being pushed against the wall, their backs sticking to the seat they were in. The feeling was almost suffocating but fortunately, it ended as quickly as it started. The straps prevented them from flying from their spots on their chairs, but they were whipped back and ended up all hitting their heads on the cushioned seats.

Zan Partizanne quickly unstrapped herself from her seat to release Hyness from his bindings. She gently set his body down at the previous spot where it originally was and looked outside the window. She saw Popstar, in all of its glittering utopian glory. The star shaped planet drifted around on its orbit slowly but surely, the glistening, sparkling rings encircling the star in an X shape gleaming amongst the myriad of specks of light in the spatial void. It would have captivated Zan were she unaware this was where her fate as well as the fate of her two younger sisters as well as the love of her life would soon be sealed.

"So. This is the place. What are you waiting for, lady? No need to show us how pretty Popstar is, just fly us to those 'Northern Isles' so we can just get this over with." Flamberge remarked, having no fire left in her voice. It was eerily calm, especially considering her furious disposition with their pilot just a mere hour ago. She seemed to accept whatever fate awaited her on the planet.

Skyla didn't feel the need to delay any further, and soon descended into Popstar's atmosphere, flying quickly but carefully. The three mage generals could see the clouds passing by the windows of the ship as their pilot made her decent. The thin, delicate cirrus clouds soon left and their view was obscured by puffy, varying shades of gray cumulonimbus clouds. It appeared that they were flying into a middle of a storm, but as Skyla's decent quickened, their leave from the clouds was as well.

Francisca, Flamberge, and Zan Partizanne were soon greeted by the sight of frozen rain falling from the sky onto what appeared to be a land perpetually covered in the most beautiful white ice packed onto the land over thousands and thousands of years. But they also saw trees and even a few homes. How were these trees and those families able to live and prosper? It was a pretty sight to the three, the sight of the evergreen trees coexisting with the houses, not to mention the snow that was previously stuck on the trees from the last storm.

"This is the Northern Isles? It's beautiful." Francisca said, speaking again after staying completely silent for a very very long time. "It is, isn't it? They've found a way to preserve those trees and prosper and grow at the same time. That grove of evergreens is sacred. We're almost to our destination, I'll be landing the ship here shortly."

"Good. No use waiting any longer just to be killed today." Flamberge said, bitterly. Zan sighed a weary and heavy sigh, tired of her sister's lack of hope. "She's said this to you twice already, Berge. It isn't her decision if we live or die, and we won't be killed unless it's decided at our trial. And maybe executions aren't their way of doing things, maybe rehabilitation is. We can only hope, right?"

"Zan, what hope could you _possibly_ have left? For Lord Hyness to fall in love with you, knock you up, and have a bunch of kids with you? Look at him, Zan. He got himself into this mess with this stupid devotion to that… that _thing_ that he tried to offer us as a sacrifice in order to bring back! He offered _US_ as a sacrifice! And who knows what else he did when it eventually became time for him to fight that goddamn creampuff! He probably used us as weapons when his hood was knocked off, who the hell knows besides that puffball and his allies?"

"What's the point you're trying to make, Flamberge? That my hope for him to know and share my true feelings is just foolish? A folly of a lovesick little girl?"

"Zan, face it, we've known him for 25 years, and what feelings for him you have started when he saved your life, taught you how to control your powers, and gave all of us a real home, not that jamblasted cave. He may have given us a lot of things since we've known him, but that Hyness is long gone. I'm sorry, sis. It just isn't meant to be. The longer you take to realize this is only going to make everything hurt even more when the time comes."

Zan Partizanne didn't say anything else. She didn't want to argue this anymore with Flamberge. She was probably saying all of this to Zan because she no longer felt hopeful that they would make it out of the situation they were in. The incident with Void Termina's resurrection may have been contained so only a handful of beings (namely the army that was once culled up in the base) were seriously injured by the Dark Lord of Destruction, but imagining what _could have_ happened only made Zan even more fearful of what would happen to Hyness should he ever awaken in time for his trial. And all during the argument, Skyla was in the process of landing the Shooting Star in the landing bay set aside in the Windfall Castle. They had officially arrived.

Skyla turned off the ignition to the ship and opened the side door. Zan Partizanne looked in the female Puffal's direction while Francisca and Flamberge were looking at the open door, wondering if they should make a run for it or if they were to stay.

"We arrived at our destination?" Zan asked.

"We have indeed. But you three will have to stay here while I'm gone, there's a few things I must attend to before we get you ready." And before any of the three mage sisters said anything else, Skyla closed the door and went to find Meta Knight, King Dedede, or Kirby.

"Well, this bites. Who knows how long she'll be gone. Guess it's back to the waiting game." Flamberge remarked, laying down and staring at the ceiling. Francisca was curled up on the floor, praying to herself, hoping that they weren't going to be executed. Zan Partizanne stared at the sight presented before her, and every fiber of her being wanted her to break down, cry, and beg for mercy and forgiveness. She knew her sisters well enough to know that they were both afraid, even if Flamberge wasn't showing her true feelings, she knew that her fiery younger sister was afraid of what is going to happen in the foreseeable future. Zan Partizanne was afraid too.

For 25 years, they searched. They sung and prayed. They trained and they fought. Everything they have done has led them up to this point, this very moment. And all they could do was hold on to their hope. Hope that they were to live instead of die, hope that they could begin anew, and abandon their cultist's folly, hope that one day, they will be forgiven for what they have done. It was all Zan hoped for, that they can start anew.

The silence was broken once again by a soft and weary groan. Zan Partizanne looked down and saw that Hyness was finally waking up. The small black circles dotting the center of his eyes could easily be mistaken for his pupils, but in a way, they were and they weren't. Seeing as he had no visible eyelids, the narrow slits seen in his chameleon-esque eyes were the only visible cue that he was unconscious.

Hyness's vision was very hazy, and he was unsure if he was still in a dream. He blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision to where he could see and recognize where he was. His mind was still fuzzy, however, and he was unsure if he was back on the Jambandra Base or if he was somewhere else entirely. He looked around, seeing nothing but shiny chrome metal, supplies and machine parts stacked in various box assortments, and his mages all sitting around him. Was he back home on the Jambandra Base?

He looked over to his right and saw Zan Partizanne. She looked very tired, her hair was a mess, her hat was not atop her head, and he noticed a small bruise on her face. She stared at him, worry very evident in her beautiful blue eyes.

A tired groan escaped his throat in his effort of trying to speak again, but he felt like he had been asleep for centuries. His body still ached and his energy felt drained, but Hyness was still alive, and he still had a mission to do.

He wondered if they had won. Where was the Dark Lord? Another groan followed by a small cough escaped him. Forming words was not as easy as it used to be. He sighed and kept looking at Zan. All he needed to do was to say _something_. What was it going to be? He was growing evermore weary with his silence. The silence must be broken.

"Zan Par… wh-where… am I?"


End file.
